The Los Angeles Angels are the cream of the crop in the American League West, having won the last three division titles. They won last year’s title by 10 games, but one has to think that both the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners have closed the gap as we head into the 2010 season. Below, we have rendered how we see the division playing out this season along with each team’s MLB betting odds associated with winning the World Series.
1st Place: Los Angeles Angels +970 to win 2010 World Series - The Los Angeles Angels have lost some key contributors in Chone Figgins, Vladimir Guerrero, and most notably John Lackey, but it’s not as if their departures left the cupboard empty. The Angels still have plenty to win a fourth straight division title. With Lackey now in Bean Town, Jered Weaver and Joe Saunders become the new one-two punch at the top of the rotation and there are a lot of teams that wish they had two guys that good to anchor their staff. The Angels also have about as good an outfield as there is in baseball with Bobby Abreu in right, Torii Hunter in center and Juan Rivera in left. The key to the Angels bringing home yet another A.L. West championship could very well be Hideki Matsui, who comes over from the New York Yankees to be the new designated hitter. 2nd Place: Texas Rangers +1900 to win 2010 World Series - After back-to-back runner-up finishes, is this the year the Texas Rangers finally win the American League West? If so, oft-injured Rich Harden will have to be able to replace Kevin Millwood at top of the rotation and Scott Feldman, who won a club-record 17 games, will have to be every bit as good as he was last season. The good news is, Texas won 87 games in 2009 despite the offense enduring one of its worst seasons since Rangers Ballpark opened in 1994. If the bats come alive in 2010, Texas could steal the division. 3rd Place: Seattle Mariners +2000 to win 2010 World Series - What a turnaround the Mariners made in 2009, winning 24 more games than they did in 2008. The bad news is they still finished 12 games behind the Angels. The Mariners were one of the big movers and shakers during the offseason with Chone Figgins and Cliff Lee being their two key acquisitions. Lee teams up with Felix Hernandez to form, perhaps, the best one-two punch in all of baseball. Lee already has an A.L. Cy Young and this could be the year Hernandez gets his after finish second last season. The thing that is holding Seattle back is its offense. The Mariners managed only 640 runs in 2009, which was good for dead last in the American League. It won’t matter how good the pitching is if the team can’t do a better job of producing runs. Adding a guy like Figgins certainly helps, but it appears the Mariners might still be one big bat in the middle of the order shy of taking the division. 4th Place: Oakland Athletics +4500 to win 2010 World Series - Since winning 93 games and the division in 2006, the A’s have spent the last three seasons at or near the bottom of the division. The A’s thought they might be able to compete by mixing in some veterans with their young talent but that was not the case. This will officially be a rebuilding year with Jason Giambi, Matt Holliday, Nomar Garciaparra, Bobby Crosby and Orlando Cabrera all gone. Crush the MLB odds this season with the help of Jimmy Boyd’s MLB expert picks!
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Michael Black
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